Microsoft is applauding a joint campaign by the FBI and Chinese police that broke up two software piracy gangs and seized software worth, well, somewhere in the millions, mostly bound for the United States.

The two-year effort resulted in arrests of 25 people, allegedly part of a ring operating from Shanghai and Shenzhen.

Chinese authorities and the FBI placed a different dollar value on the goods, according to this story. The Chinese Ministry of Public Security said it seized 360,000 programs and property valued at $7.9 million, while the FBI's Los Angeles office estimated the seized software's retail value to be $500 million. That would make each program worth almost $1,400.

Microsoft General Counsel Brad Smith hailed the get-tough stance toward counterfeiters.
"Customers around the world are turning you in, governments and law enforcement have had enough, and private companies will act decisively to protect intellectual property," he said.